Shortly before her first ever show  in Brooklyn this past Saturday, I had the chance to sit down and chop it up with the Queen of Memphis La Chat about female visibility in southern rap, her favorite Memphis albums, and her 9 dogs.

To start, could you just briefly introduce yourself for anyone who isn’t familiar with you?

For those that don’t know me, “Chickenhead” – that was me. I was originally part of Three Six Mafia’s Hypotized Minds crew. “Baby Mama,” that was me. “2 Way Freak” that was me.  I also starred in the movie Choices. I did a solo album named Murder She Spoke in 2001, and I’ve done other albums since then.

I read that you first got involved with Three Six when Juicy J saw you at a school talent show, is that true?

Yeah, I think I was in the 9^th grade. This started back when they were still underground, and I was doing talent shows and stuff like that. Really, this other rapper I knew told them about me, and that’s what made him [Juicy J] come out and see me. After that he called me one day and he was like “I want to hear you rap!” And I was like “You want to hear me rap? Uh… can you call back, my mom is in the room.” [laughs] So, he was like – Juicy, he’s got two characters. He’s “Juicy” and then he’s Jordan.  So he was like “aw man, you can’t rap?” and he hung up. So then I was like damn, I missed my chance. But he ended up calling back and this time he was Jordan, he was like “Hi, how are you doing? I want to hear you rap and see if you can buss a little rhyme.” So this time I went outside and said a little rap for him, after that  we went on dropping mixtapes and stuff like that, but I went out of town before they signed their major label deal. When I went out of town, they signed to Relativity Records, and that’s when they came out with the Three Six Mafia thing, “Turn The Club Up” and stuff like that. So by the time I got back in town, Juicy heard I was back in town because I was still doing street stuff and keeping my name out there, they came back and snatched me when they were doing Hypnotized Minds.

Do you remember the moment when you realized that rapping was more than a hobby for you, that it was something you could make a career out of?

I was in the 3^rd grade when I wrote my first rap. It really was a poem, we were during black history and I had written a poem about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and everybody thought it was a rap. So after that I said it as a rap. From that point on I thought I could rap. When I was in the 7^th grade I wrote a rap called “Peace In the Middle East,” and the rap was so good that my junior high school’s Principal had read it – he didn’t know to rap it – he read it over the intercom. I was pressing them up and passing them out and letting people read  them, giving them to teachers and lots of different people. So, from that point on I thought I was a rapper.

Who were the people that you looked to when you were coming up?

I loved MC Lyte, she was one of my biggest influences. She was my favorite. I portrayed her in talent shows – we had a show called Putting On The Hits in school one time, and I did MC Lyte. I imitated her.

What’s your favorite MC Lyte song?

“Cha Cha Cha.”  And “Kick This One For Brooklyn”

One of the things that stands out about you is the fact that you could be on a song with Yo Gotti, or Project Pat or Three Six Mafia and you come just as hard as they do. Is it a competitive thing for you?

No, it’s not! I hear that all of the time, people say I get on songs and I own them, they think that they’re actually my songs, and I think that it just goes along with my talent, showing that I’m a good artist. The road has been kind of rocky and rough, I’m pretty sure you’ll get to those questions – that’s why I haven’t got into what happened  with me and Three Six yet, because I’m sure we’ll get into that – but yeah, I get on those albums and I own them. I don’t know what their rap is going to sound like. They come in, we go in the studio, I drop my verse and that’s that. Then when I hear the song, people be like  “aw man you did this, you did that” so…

Did you ever record with someone where you heard what they came up with and you were like “Oh man, I’ve gotta go back and rewrite my verse”?

Never, but people do me like that all of the time! I’m like, why do people do that, because one thing about it is if you wrote it, you love it. I wouldn’t care if you go whatever, I’m not in competition when I do rap. When I spit that’s what I meant to say, that’s what I want to say, and it doesn’t matter what you said. But I’m not gonna lie, a lot of people go back and re-write! [laughs]

Another thing that stands out about you, in terms of your own albums, is how versatile you are. A lot of female rappers only rap about their sexuality, for example, but you can have a song like “Slob On My Cat” and then come with something hard or introspective.. Is that something that you put your mind towards?

You see, me – I’m a street rapper.  There’s a difference between a gangsta rapper and a street rapper, a street rapper is a person who talks about real life things that go on in the streets. That’s why I don’t get caught up in materialistic stuff – of course, materialistic is what I could be on if that’s what I’m on, but I like to represent for the struggle, I like to represent for people in the streets, I like to represent for real stuff. I like to rap and have someone feel like “Man, that’s me. That’s what I’m going through.” It’s easy to get on a track and  rap about I got this, I got that, but what about the ones that don’t  have it. Who’s going to represent them?  So that’s my title, I’m the hood homegirl.

Is that why you think you have such a strong following?

Yeah I really do, I really do. And I’ve never changed. I’ve been doing this professionally since 1998, and I’ve always been  me. And I see I’m doing good at it because I’m here in Brooklyn [laughs]!

It seems like during the late 90s/early 00s there were a lot more female rappers from the south – there was you, Mia X, Gangsta Boo, Jackie O, Khia, etc. Once southern rap blew up, though, it seemed like all of the female voices were pushed out – for a while the only people holding it down for the females were Trina, and maybe Diamond & Princess from Crime Mob.  Do you agree with that, and if so why do you think that is?

Yeah, I feel like there was a period when they tried to make rap a male dominated game, but really it comes from us having problems with our labels, having problems with the people who were running the labels,  and then it’s like  – I don’t know how the industry is, but it’s like if you’re dealing with somebody that’s a higher authority than you, I think they can pretty much put their foot on your neck. We can grind underground so hard, but it’ll be so hard for us to get that mainstream again – we don’t know if it’s because everybody that’s big in the industry and connected works together. Of course, I got in the industry – I already knew people that were in the industry, and I’ve already been a lot of places. I don’t know if once that happens, they know people and we have to still be grinding but it’s a grind and I ain’t messed up about it. I’d rather grind it out than to go through what I’ve went through because  they owe me millions.

Do you think it’s harder for females?

Yeah, very much so. I think it’s much harder. It’s really harder for females. I don’t know why, but it is.

So, we’ve hinted at it a little, but can you go into more detail about what happened between you and Three Six Mafia?

Yeah. I worked with them a good six years, and we were like family – it was more fun than business.  What happened was my album Murder She Spoke dropped and I sold over 250,000 copies and just never saw any royalties from it. I never saw a royalty check, period.  Never saw a royalty check from them. We did the movie Choices, never saw a royalty check. “Chicken Head” went platinum, yet I never saw any royalties. I was calling and trying to talk to them and be more friendly and family about it, given our relationship, but it was like they really weren’t hearing me. So I had to get my attorneys involved and the situation was going on so long  that I just asked to be released. I never saw a royalty check from Hypnotized Minds, after putting in all that work that y’all have heard me do. But, I thank them. They’re the ones that gave me the big break to get in the industry, so  from that point on I’ve just been doing what I do. I’ve worked with Yo Gotti, I’ve worked with Nikia Shine, and after that I got my own label.

So, do you ever talk to DJ Paul or Juicy J or any of that crew?

No, I don’t talk to them at all.

Alright, so I want to ask you about Gangsta Boo. You guys seem like such great friends, do you remember the first time you met her?

The first time I met her it was back back back back back in the day. We didn’t really have too much to say to each other, but you know I’m a Gangsta Boo fan. I’ve always been one, because she’s a good artist. We really weren’t saying too much to each other, even when we were on the label together, we didn’t do too much talking. I don’t know, I think it was controversy in between people going back here saying this and saying that. Once she left the label and I left the label we ended up being best of friends. We ended up seeing that we were different, but so much the same.

Yeah, I was going to ask how you two have remained friends, since the industry tends to pit female rappers against each other all of the time.

Yeah, that’s what they were trying to do at first! But, you know, we just got grown about it. We became friends, and we’re still friends. We’ve been friends for a long time now, as a matter of fact she was so excited about me coming  up here to Brooklyn, because she’s already been, she passed my number to a couple of people and everything. She has my back, and I have her back. We do Queens of Memphis  shows together all of the time.

You perform a lot in Memphis.

Yeah, I perform in Memphis all of the time. I’ve actually got a club in Memphis too, so I be having the club night on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So even when I’m not performing on stage, I’m performing somehow.

Memphis has such a rich musical history. On the rap side you have people like Three Six, Gangsta Pat, Project Pat, 8Ball, you, Gangsta Boo. And, going back, you’ve got Al Green, Stax Records, etc. What do you think it is about Memphis that produces such great music?

I think Memphis is just full of talented people. You all would be amazed at how much underground talent we’ve got. I’m talking about some really talented artists. I think it’s in the water, it’s in the river [laughs].

Who are some artists from Memphis on the come-up that you think we should know about? 

We’ve got a cat named YoYo Munie coming up. A cat named Mac Gudda coming up. We’ve got to throw my nephew in there, Young Sizzle [laughs]. We’ve got a lot of talent.

If you had to pick your five favorite Memphis albums – from any era – what would they be?

8Ball & MJG – Coming Out Hard

Yo Gotti – Back 2 Da Basics

Project Pat – Layin’ DA Smack Down

La Chat – Murder She Spoke

La Chat – Dramatize

So, let’s speak  about the recording of Murder She Spoke, because that’s a classic album. What the recording process like for that album?

I was hungry, and I’m still hungry. Paul and Juicy put a beat on and I’d sit back and just be rockin it, then I’d go in a room and just write. I was me, and I was real. Like I said, one thing about it is when I came in the game I put my foot in it.  Here it is 2012, and people still love Murder She Spoke.

Has anything changed in the way you approach making music from that time to now?

I’ve got to keep it real, no. [laughs] Some people might be like “well, she’s ain’t changed.” No, I’m not going to change!

What’s your favorite song that you’ve written?

My favorite song that I’ve written is on the album Dramatize, it’s called “Where Was U.” The song is so real, I’m saying “I don’t know whether to slap you or dap you/Hug you or mug you/Rush you or bust you/ I was there for you, but when I needed you where was u?” And on there I’m just talking realistically, they’re all true stories. I start off talking about my situation with Three Six. Then on my second verse I’m talking about a best friend that I had, and on my third verse I’m talking about my baby daddy [laughs]. It was just like how I was so down with ‘em, but when it came time for me to need them  where were they? That was a good song.

Do all of your songs come from real experiences that you’ve had?

Yeah, for sure. I could go to the club, don’t you look at me don’t you say nothing to me, I’m gonna go back and write about you. [laughs] Might give me inspiration for a song.

So, you released a mixtape last year called Krumbz To Brickz, and you worked with a lot of people on it – Waka Flocka, Gucci Mane, Lex Luger produced some stuff…

Yeah 8 Ball is on there too. It’s actually not Lex Luger, it’s Lex Luthor he’s an upcoming producer from Memphis. He did the track with Waka that blew up real big, and that’s how they got it confused with Luger because he produces a lot of stuff for Waka. Waka actually reached out to me. Gucci Mane reached out to me, 8Ball reached out to me.. I was honored.

Considering what you’ve accomplished in the game do you think you get the proper amount of respect?

I don’t think I get the amount of respect that I deserve, but I can say  it’s fair. You’re always going to feel like you deserve more than what you’re getting anyway,  and really  you’ve got to look at it like you get out of it what you put into it. What I’m putting in it is all me, by myself. So, due to the fact that I’m grinding and I’m staying afloat and still taking care of my business, and still touching people I’m satisfied with the respect that I’ve got.

So what are you working on now? Do you have an album coming up?

Yeah.  First, I’ve got an artist coming up by the name of Miss Angel.  And I’m working on another album called Gangsta Girl, I’ve already got the single – it’s called “Gangsta.” So yeah, I’m working. I’ve got my own studio in Memphis, I’ve got my own label called Dime A Dozen –  I came up with that because it’s a dime a dozen, anything that you lost or think you lost you can get it back, don’t worry about it.

Outside of rap, what’s a day in the life of La Chat like?

Hmm, a day in the life. Basically, dealing with my animals. I’ve got 9 dogs, 1 cat. I’ve got a 15 year old, and the animals are worse than him. So that’s what a day in the life is like, I have to tend to them, I have to feed them, I have to make sure they’re alright. Sometimes they want to fight one another so I have to go out there and break them up. That’s really a day in the life of La Chat [laughs]. It gets real crazy, because I’m dealing with 3 male pitbulls and 2 girls, and 2 female chihuahua and 2 boys. So yeah it gets crazy.

Is there anything else else you wanted to add?

You can follow me on twitter  @dareallachat. My facebook is Lachat Daniels. Got too many  friends, but if somebody sends me a personal message I’ll delete somebody for them [laughs]. I’ve got my own website, www.dimeadozenent.com,  and just stay tuned because whether I’m underground or overground I’m still going to be out here. And I want to shout out Helen Harris for bringing me to New York. Oh, and I have a DVD I’m putting out titled Da Chat Bitch [laughs].  If you don’t have a copy you can order it on my website. I’m basically just being me. And I’m also working on a reality show.  It’s called the Baby Mama.

Haha awesome, are your dogs going to be on there?

Yes! Oh lord, y’all are going to love Smokey. He’s my chihuahua, he’s 13 years old, and he thinks he’s the biggest Pit  [laughs]. One thing about him is, he’s the eldest, and he’s been through so many different dogs, he’s seen them come and go, so he’s telling them like “Y’all niggas ain’t even going to be here, I’m gon’ still be here when y’all niggas are gone.” [laughs]. Y’all will love him. So yeah, I’m going to put them all in it.  The Baby Mama is going to be based on how I balance my career along with being a mother, being my mother’s caretaker, etc. I’ve just got a lot of stuff going on in my real life, outside of rap, and I think  people want to see that because they love me on tv.  And I’ve got new videos too, so y’all can go to youtube and check out the new videos, they are on the Da Chat Bitch DVD.

Awesome, thank you for a great interview!

Thank you!